Marshalls Creek Bypass heads for home as final phase begins

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is asking motorists to be patient as it conducts work on the final leg of the Marshalls Creek Bypass project.

Comment

By CHAD SMITH

poconorecord.com

By CHAD SMITH

Posted Feb. 28, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 28, 2013 at 12:40 PM

By CHAD SMITH

Posted Feb. 28, 2013 at 12:01 AM
Updated Feb 28, 2013 at 12:40 PM

» Social News

The Pennsylvania Department of Transportation is asking motorists to be patient as it conducts work on the final leg of the Marshalls Creek Bypass project.

The last phase of the project is taking place at the corner of Seven Bridge Road and Route 209 in Marshalls Creek.

But one woman is upset because changes that have been made to Route 209 are confusing. One of her complaints is that the yellow dividing line separating the two lanes of Route 209 in that area is gone.

PennDOT says it will make changes if need be, but the contractors it hired to do the work are skilled in traffic control as well as construction.

"There's a lot of work going on at that intersection at the moment. We're just asking everyone to be patient. It's a relatively big project," said PennDOT spokesman Sean Brown.

PennDOT is widening the road around the intersection, improving a bridge there that goes over Marshalls Creek and is installing new drainage infrastructure.

But the work has led to some traffic confusion, said Dolores Roberge of East Stroudsburg.

Roberge said there is no longer a yellow line dividing the northbound lane of Route 209 with the southbound lane; it was removed during construction.

She said that contractors repainted a temporary yellow line, but that washed away in a recent storm.

In addition, Roberge said that a sign warning motorists traveling north on Route 209 that construction is ahead is too far away from the actual construction. She said that by the time she reaches the intersection, which is where the construction actually is, "I forgot that I even ever saw the sign."

But Brown said that, when it comes to the sign, PennDOT puts warning signs far away from the actual construction sometimes so motorists have the option to take an alternate route.

As for the missing yellow line, he said that he will talk to the contractors to see if a new yellow line can be painted there.

Brown said that all the contractors PennDOT hires to do construction must also be highly skilled at traffic control. He said he believes that any problem at the intersection, if there is one, must have been an oversight.

This phase of the project, which should be finished by the spring, is the final leg of the Marshalls Creek bypass project. The bypass sought to reduce traffic congestion in the area.